The U.S. Women's Nat'l soccer team defeated Brazil 4-2
in front of 35,211 fans Saturday at Papa John's Cardinal
Stadium in Louisville. The three-game attendance for the
Nike Women's Cup '99 was 94,717, for an average of 31,572
(THE DAILY)....Wizards/Crew Operator Lamar Hunt, on a
potential women's pro soccer league: "We're no experts as
far as making a men's pro league work. To think that [a
women's pro league] could go from nothing to eight or 10
teams overnight may not be realistic" (K.C. STAR,
10/10)....In Newark, Ike Kuhns writes that MLS is on "very
solid ground" financially. MLS Exec VP Ivan Gazidis, on the
league's investors: "They are in this not for the next five
years, but for the next 20 years and longer" (Newark STAR-
LEDGER, 10/12)....MLS Commissioner Don Garber, asked which
NFL player he would "love to bring" to MLS: "Deion Sanders -
- for pizzazz, excitement and overall hipness." More
Garber, on using one MLS player to convert a non-fan into a
fan in ten minutes: "That's a dangerous one. ... [Crew F]
Brian McBride, because he's a young, hip, good-looking
American player who's going to be a star" (P.B. POST,
10/10)....Alexi Lalas retired Saturday, but MLS "hopes to
employ him for marketing purposes" (USA TODAY, 10/11).
NOTES: The Heat defeated host Maccabi Tel Aviv
yesterday before 8,700 fans at Yad Eliyahu Stadium in
Israel. NBA Commissioner David Stern was in attendance and
"participated in a pre-game tribute" to late Heat Founder
Ted Arison (SUN-SENTINEL, 10/12)....In St. Paul, Jim Caple
reported that more than 2,000 fans paid between $15-20 to
attend Saturday's Lake Michigan Minx-Minnesota Vixens
Women's Professional Football League debut game. Caple
called it a "poor game filled with dropped snaps, dropped
handoffs, dropped passes and dropped punts" (PIONEER PRESS,
10/11). In Minneapolis, La Velle Neal III: "Whether women's
football will take off remains to be seen, but some treated
it like any other game" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 10/10).
